Silencing Climate Science

Silencing Climate Science

This page lists government actions targeting scientific research and education on climate change. The listed actions are also included in the table on the SST home page, along with actions targeting other (non-climate) environmental science fields.

The Trump administration’s FY2019 budget proposes to reduce funding for NASA by 0.3% (compared to FY2017 levels). Among other things, the budget would eliminate funding for the international space station from 2025, cancel a project to upgrade communications satellites, and terminate five earth sciences research missions.

The Trump administration’s FY2019 budget proposes to cut EPA funding by 33.7% (compared to FY2017 levels), and eliminate a number of the agency’s research and education programs, including the Climate Change Research and Partnership Program and the Environmental Education Program.

The Trump administration’s FY2019 budget proposes to cut USDA funding by 16.4% (compared to FY2017 levels). Under the budget, funding for a number of USDA research programs, including statistical research programs administered by the Economic Research Service, would be reduced or eliminated.

The Trump administration’s FY2019 budget proposes cuts to a number of National Science Foundation (NSF) programs, including a 56% reduction in the NSF account that supports the construction of research platforms and the acquisition of scientific instruments.

The Trump administration’s FY2019 budget proposes to cut funding for DOE by 3.4% (compared to FY2017 levels). Funding for DOE’s innovation arm, the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), would be eliminated and funding for its Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy cut in half.

The Trump administration’s FY2019 budget proposes to reduce funding for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration by 20% compared to FY2017 levels. Among other things, the budget would eliminate $273 million in funding for NOAA grant programs, including the National Sea Grant College Program and National Estuarine Research Reserve System.

The White House announced plans to restructure the interagency National Science and Technology Council, which was established in 1993 to coordinate science policy across the federal government. The restructure will be overseen by the Office of Science and Technology Policy, which has requested input from 20 federal agencies.

In an interview on a Nevada television station, EPA Administrator misrepresented climate research indicating that rising temperatures will have widespread negative impacts, suggesting that they could actually be positive.

During an international television appearance, aired on ITV, President Trump misrepresented scientific data regarding climate change. The President made several incorrect statements, including suggesting that global temperatures are not increasing, and sea ice cover is not declining.

During the government shutdown, NOAA temporarily suspended access to a website providing climate change data, while continuing to allow access to several other sites. The climate change website returned to service on January 23, 2018, following the end of the government shutdown.

As of December 31, 2017, President Trump had filled fewer government science positions than any other recent President, at the same point in time. Just 20 of the 83 positions designated by the National Academies of Sciences as “science appointees” had been filled.

The Federal Highway Administration’s “Sustainable Transport and Climate Change” program was renamed the “Sustainable Transportation and Resilience” program and several references to climate change were removed from its website.

References to “climate change” and links to climate-related documents, including an educational fact sheet on climate change and human health, were removed from the National Environmental Health Sciences website.

The Trump administration’s proposed FY2018 budget included $347 million in funding for climate and environmental research at DOD. This represents less than 1% of the amount requested by DOD and would result in cuts to several research programs.

The Trump administration’s FY2018 budget proposed a 10% cut funding in for NSF climate and environmental research programs. This is expected to lead to 800 fewer awards to universities and other institution in 2018 compared to 2017.

DOI froze the work of more than 200 advisory boards, committees, and subcommittees to enable it to review “the charter and charge of each committee.” DOI also allowed the charter of the Advisory Committee on Climate Change and Natural Resource Science to expire.

A page describing efforts to address climate change, and providing links to DOI and other federal resources on climate change and renewable energy, was removed from the Bureau of Land Management’s website.

In an interview on CNBC’s Squawk Box, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt misrepresented climate science, suggesting that scientists have not established that greenhouse gas emissions are the primary cause of climate change.

The Badlands national park deleted four tweets, containing basic scientific facts about climate change, from its account. The tweets were reportedly posted by a former employee who was not authorized to use the park’s account.

Budget cuts resulted in NOAA rescinding four of the eight offers made to researchers to participate in the 2017 Climate and Global Change Postdoctoral Fellowship Program. As a result, fewer researchers participated in the 2017 program than in any other year since it was launched.

DOE cancelled an ongoing project researching how tropical forests will respond to climate change. The study, which involved over 130 scientists, was launched in 2015 and due to continue until 2025, but will shut down 7 years early (in 2018).

EPA’s “Climate Ready Water Utilities” program was renamed the “Creating Resilient Water Utilities” program and several references to “climate change” and “climate science” were removed from its website.